THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (2004)

The Charge

Opening Statement

Director Jonathan Demme defies expectations by delivering a top-notch
thriller, updated to reflect contemporary paranoia. His film is a worthy
companion piece to the classic 1962 original.

Facts of the Case

During the Gulf War, members of a platoon led by Captain Bennett Marco
(Denzel Washington) and Sgt. Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber, The Sum of All
Fears) are kidnapped and brainwashed. With no memory of their ordeal, the
soldiers return to U.S. forces. Shaw is awarded the Congressional Medal of
Honor. A decade later, now-Congressman Shaw mounts his vice presidential
campaign under the oppressive tutelage of his mother Eleanor Shaw (Meryl
Streep), a powerful U.S. senator and right-wing ideologue.

The Shaw campaign warchest is underwritten by Manchurian Global, a secretive
equity fund focused on military contracts. Marco and other members of his old
platoon gradually recall details of their kidnapping, including murders and a
mammoth cover-up extending to the highest reaches of political power in the
United States. Vowing to uncover the truth, Marco must first convince Shaw that
the would-be vice president is actually a programmed killing machine waiting to
be set in motion by unknown controllers.

The Evidence

Learning of this production a year before its theatrical release in August
2004, I was predisposed to loathe Director Jonathan Demme's The Manchurian
Candidate as another ill-conceived remake from the artistically bankrupt
rubes who rule Hollywood. How could they improve on perfection? The late John
Frankenheimer's original Manchurian Candidate (1962) remains the ultimate
political thriller; a pungent satire redolent with cold-war paranoia. Years
ahead of its time, the original works superbly on multiple levels -- as
thriller, mystery, or political satire. It is a poignant exploration of the
psychosis produced by brainwashing, torture, and the psychological manipulations
of a dysfunctional family, which may be the most devastating form of mind
control. Frankenheimer's direction reflects the artistic sensibility of a
profoundly intelligent man working at the height of his creative powers. Sadly,
the director would never again scrape the stratospheric heights of excellence
that he reached in 1962 with this film, powered by a dream cast of Frank Sinatra
as Bennett Marco and Lawrence Harvey as the programmed assassin Raymond Shaw.
With screenwriter George Axelrod (who adapted Richard Condon's 1959 novel),
these men produced "the most poundingly suspenseful political thriller ever
made" according to People Magazine. No argument here. Dr.
Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick's incredible satire of nuclear madness, is the
lone film that even approximates the scabrous socio-political commentary of
The Manchurian Candidate. Frankenheimer's masterpiece mocks the far right
as red-baiting dupes angling for any excuse to seize power. The film likewise
ridicules the liberal left as flaccid and ineffectual. The great director once
said that his objective was to scorn all forms of political extremism as equally
moronic and dangerous; he succeeded beyond his wildest aspirations.

So it was hard to imagine that a Manchurian "remake" could
serve any interest beyond commercial, much less touch the source material for
timeliness and audacity. There were other reasons to worry that Hollywood was
about to bastardize another classic film.

An undeniably talented director, Demme (The Silence of the Lambs)
hadn't had a hit in years. His most recent film, The Truth About Charlie,
was a gawdawful remake of Stanley Donen's classic caper comedy Charade,
with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.

But in revisiting The Manchurian Candidate, Demme has redeemed
himself. I was wrong to harbor such paranoia about his abilities and motivations
in tackling this project. Now I'm inclined to be paranoid about the world he
depicts.

That said, Demme's film is not so much a remake but a clever re-imagining of
key elements from Frankenheimer's picture, updated to reflect contemporary fears
about international conglomerates and the frightening influence these
corporations wield over politicians. Once in office, their powers, to paraphrase
a key line from the original film, "make marshal law look like
anarchy." All it takes is enough money.

Instead of Communists posing as right-wingers, the conspirators in Demme's
film are part of the U.S. military-industrial complex (Halliburton is the
obvious inspiration), pulling the strings of conservatives and liberals alike.
The villains do not hide in Manchuria inside Communist China. They are hidden in
plain sight, within the executive offices of Manchurian Global. Their objective
is not so much power or influence -- those are just means to an end. They want
military contracts worth billions of dollars.

Washington takes on the Sinatra role of Ben Marco, whose Gulf War nightmares
threaten his sanity. Marco knows something happened to his platoon in the
Kuwaiti desert, and he begins to suspect that his former sergeant may be
involved in a conspiracy for corporate control of the White House. Shaw's
mother, U.S. Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw, plays every political card in her
hand to get Raymond on the presidential ticket, setting the chess board in
motion. Here, Washington takes a blessed reprieve from his recent slate of
low-brow action films to play a tormented man who realizes with dawning horror
that someone has been tinkering inside his brain. Schreiber turns in serviceable
work as the arrogant yet strangely sympathetic Raymond, a clockwork orange
assembled to seize power for his unknown handlers. Schreiber seems to be
channeling Lawrence Harvey's performance from the original film, and this sparks
a distracting comparison. But Streep is the real show here, stealing her scenes
and occasionally chewing them up in a sly parody of -- indeed -- could she be
mocking a well-known U.S. Senator from New York? In interviews, Streep has
discouraged parallels between her character and the public persona of Hilary
Rodham Clinton. Let viewers decide. Her Senator Shaw is ruthlessness defined.
The good news is that Streep does not try to mimic Angela Lansbury's
career-defining performance as a power-crazed mother lusting after her own son.
Streep's work stands as a unique creation, distinct from the original yet no
less horrifying.

As Senator Shaw's political nemesis, Jon Voight handles the role of liberal
Senator Thomas Jordan, whose daughter once loved Raymond. Dean Stockwell is
perfectly cast as a corporate toady, greasing the skids between Manchurian
Global and Washington, D.C. Political junkies will delight in some of the cameos
peppered throughout this picture, while cult film fans will have to look quick
to catch Roger Corman, the famed B-movie producer-director who gave Demme his
first break in the business.

The script by Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgaris is the most intelligently
adapted screenplay produced in the weak year that was 2004. Knowledgeable fans
of the original film will enjoy the sheer audacity of this tricky update. There
is not a line of superfluous dialogue, not a single unnecessary word. This is
tight, on-point screenwriting at its best. Demme lets his actors run with this
rich dialogue, while the director fills his frame with subtle visual wit.
Viewers are especially urged to scan the margins of Demme's film, because the
director likes to paint in the corners.

Technically, the DVD is nearly flawless, with only one fleeting video
artifact. Reference-quality Dolby Digital audio comes in a choice of languages.
A fair selection of supplemental material rounds out the package, including a
lively and informative director's commentary that shows Demme at the top of his
form. The making-of documentary and cast notes are disappointingly brief at 15
minutes each.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Some will accuse Demme of copping out with a (relatively) upbeat ending, but
that's like saying you'd rather be ripped apart by tiger sharks instead of
barracudas. Also, Denzel Washington doesn't look much like Frank Sinatra,
although he is a better actor.

Closing Statement

Demme's film and Frankenheimer's classic original make fascinating bookends
around the last 40 years of U.S. politics. Each belongs in every discriminating
film lover's collection. The pair would make an outstanding double feature, and
as such are highly recommended.

The Verdict

Demme's Manchurian Candidate is free to go. So are the rest of you, before
I'm forced to read the Riot Act.